Cuisine

A cake that's as rife with uber-ripe plums as it is Italian heritage. You're gonna love the gritty-in-a-good-way texture and buttery taste.

If you can master this über basic recipe, you can grill a steak waaaaay better than any of your friends. Promise.

Eggs in hell? It's an edible incarnation of Dante's inferno. Don't worry, it's far more fetching than that old grump would have you believe.

You haven't lived until you've had chicken karaage, which is Japanese-style chicken that's marinated in soy and fried twice until crisp and oh so nice.

Got chile sauce? Corn tortillas? Cheese? Sour Cream? Limes? Fantastic. Then you've got the makings for some of the easiest enchiladas ever.

Stop your scoffing. This may not be conventional chili, but it's no sissy imposter. It's just a little subtler, soupier, and smokier.

Entertaining gets no simpler than this rich, creamy, indulgent, elegant cheese spread made from three ingredients. Tasting is believing. Go on.

What's chrain, you ask? It's a heck of a traditional condiment with a bite to it. And it's coming to a holiday table near you.

This recipe for thin, crisp matzoh couldn't be simpler and, natch, tastes incomparable to the stuff you buy in a box.

You've not "made it" until you've an eponymous cocktail all your own. Witness the Fatty Daddy, a sweetly surprising number that packs a punch, just like our own dear David.

Boozy bananas are lavished with a cheater's caramel sauce made with butter, brandy, and brown sugar in this outrageously simple riff on a Southern classic. No flames required.

This Havana-style black bean soup is gonna surprise you with just how intensely flavored it is despite calling for inexpensive everyday ingredients.

The lilt of lemongrass. The sour smack of tamarind. The warm-your-belly pervasiveness of galangal. The unmistakable funk of fish sauce. All in this exquisitely authentic soup.

Yes, homemade pizza sauce can be so silken, so simple, so toss-out-every-other-jarred-sauce satiating.

The complex, almost caramelized taste of this sweetly savory side illustrates just why the last few years have seen a resurgence in respect for cauliflower.

As stunning as it is simple, this hot little number isn't exactly traditional Szechuan fare, though it may quickly become tradition.

This five-ingredient fix, a restaurant classic as well as a simple weeknight dinner, will have you practicing your acceptance speech for the best dinner ever.

An insanely satiating comfort food fix that's as quick and easy as it is inexpensive. Refried beans and cheese atop toast with pico de gallo. Wish we'd known about this a loooong time ago.

A Mexican staple, this sauce of sorts is essentially fresh salsa that's named, curiously, for a rooster's beak.

Just squiggle this easy peasy batter in oil, sizzle until golden, then dunk in an insanely sweet syrup. Frightfully, irresistibly good.